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Powerpuff Girls 2-inch Figures Review: Some Back And Forth

By Brian Thomer

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Spin Master has released a series of 2-inch Powerpuff Girls figures and playsets based on the recently returned hit Cartoon Network animated series.

Burgeoning toy giant Spin Master provided their 2-inch Aura Powerpod Powerpuff Girls figures as well as their Deluxe Flip To Action playset based on the popular Cartoon Network original series. These are just some of the PPG items Spin Master has available this holiday season, as seen at this year’s TTPM Holiday Showcase.

Breaking through Toy Shelf Barriers

The Aura Powerpod Powerpuff Girls dolls represent the deluxe offering of figures for the 2-inch line. The assortment is made up of each of the three sisters: Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles. Each comes with a ride-able translucent vehicle. They are tied to each girl’s individual personality. Blossom rides a stapler. Buttercup marches forth in a cannon. Bubbles, naturally, is in a bunny. Each pod is motorized, so they speed forward when pulled back and released.

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In addition to the figure and the pod, each set comes with a 2-piece break apart wall and a plastic cutout of a villain. There is a peg on top of each half of the wall, so the villain can be set on top of it—which comes crashing down when the powerpod comes zooming through the wall. The villains are Princess Morbucks (Bubbles), Pack Rat (Blossom) and Manboy (Buttercup).

The dolls themselves are pretty basic. The bodies are a more pliable plastic, while the heads are hard plastic. The only articulation is in the neck. The dolls cannot stand on their own. However, given their proportions and how they seemingly are always on their tiptoes, that is not too surprising if the figures are going to be fair representations of the characters. The pods do have a stand to securely connect the dolls.

The pull back action of the powerpods works excellently. Pulling the pod back about a foot yields several feet of speedy travel. The pods are also bulky enough that they stand a decent chance of hitting their target from a reasonable distance. Stacking the villain on top the wall was a nice touch, as it ups the crash factor. Also, the flat villains make adequate stand-ins for actual figures, considering the limited articulation of the dolls. However, if one wants a full Princess Morbucks figure, it is available in the Schoolyard Scramble playset.

Flip to Little Action

The Flip To Action deluxe playset was one of the more promising Powerpuff Girls items when displayed at TTPM. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, it may not offer as much playability as it initially appeared.

Now, that is not to say that the main feature of the playset is not well-executed. The premise of the Flip To Action playset is that it is two playsets in one and can easily convert from one to the other. Spin Master designed this playset to smoothly go from one scene to the other by simply flipping the back wall from one side to the other. Children of the recommended ages of 5 and up will have no problem switching from the Powerpuff Girls’ bedroom to Professor Utonium’s lab.

Each set aptly reflects the scene it is designed for and, conversely, hides the elements to the opposite scene almost flawlessly. “Almost” because if one gets down to eye level with the Professor’s lab, one can see the bedroom’s wall clock hidden under the lab counter. Looking down at it, though, one would never notice.

There is also a large “Pow!” sign that permanently displays for some reason on the lab scene which is also partially visible from the bedroom scene. Why Spin Master chose to blow their nearly perfect conversion with an utterly unnecessary word balloon is a bit of a head-scratcher.

There Are Few Additional Features

The set does come with two figures. Bubbles, which is slightly different from the one in the Aura Powerpod, and Professor Utonium. This set appears to be the only place where the Professor figure is available. The only difference between this Bubbles and the above one is that the Aura Bubbles has stars in her eyes. Utonium is articulated only at the shoulders. Oddly, he is not articulated at the neck like the others.

The flip action and figures aside, the playset offers little in way of other features. The backside of the wall has the cityscape imprinted on it, so that can be another background for adventures. The toy chest lid does lift up, though the set has no small accessories to store inside.

Master the Art of Upside down Flight

Finally, there is a clear plastic swing arm attached to the one side that can be used to simulate flight. However, the joint connecting the arm to the playset is loose, so it cannot support the weight of a figure. This makes it difficult to arrange the dolls in any sort of permanent flight position. There is also no way to turn the clamp at the end so that it can change direction as the arm rotates. This results in the figure being sideways and then upside down as it goes around. The arm is not long either, so even without the above issue, it would not extend to the whole area of the playset.

This all makes the utility of the flight arm severely limited. The packaging itself is a bit misleading in this regard. The picture highlighting this feature has the clamp in a position that shows the figure upright when, in fact, it would not be. A small detail, sure, but, if the packaging itself cannot adequately demonstrate the feature, that is a clear sign that there is something wrong with its design.

Overall, the 2-inch deluxe Aura Powerpod Powerpuff Girls figures are well-designed and offer plenty of playability. The Flip To Action playset accomplishes its main goal of 2-in-1 easily convertible playsets, but falls short in the area of additional playability. Parents will be happy to know there is no assembly required. These Powerpuff Girls items are recommended for ages 5 and above and are available at retailers nationwide.

Disclosure: Bam Smack Pow was provided with a free sample from Spin Master for the purposes of this review.

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